Hero: The Flame
Designation: The Flame, aka the Dragon Public acknowledgement level: The general public have little to no awareness of the individual known as the Flame, following a concerted effort of misinformation and coverup assisted by the BINN. Despite these efforts, local awareness remains at a low level, largely spread by rumour as a result of the extensive damage caused by his 'efforts'. The local mafia and other criminal groups are far more aware of the existence of this individual and the Gang of Gregory in particular has made significant efforts to locate and eradicate this persistent threat to their business interests. Known Powers and Abilities: The Flame is most famously known for his namesake ability to manipulate fire; everything from cinders to blazing infernos. He has a level of control allowing him to telekinetically control their movement and their veracity. Though it seems his skills are - as yet - unrefined, he is capable of causing a cigarette to ignite rapidly enough to explode and to douse sparks fast enough to prevent a bullet's gunpowder cap from igniting. Despite these impressive abilities, it seems that his control becomes more lax as the amount of fire around him increases - which appears to lead to significant collateral damage including civilian casualties. Other manifested abilities appear to be a strong resistance to heat, though it is unconfirmed if this is due to an unnaturally toughened epidermis or if this a level of subconscious control keep the heat from afflicting him. He has also been observed to be a skilled brawler with a degree of basic martial arts training (Judo). He has never been observed to use weapons aside from his own pyrokinetic ability. Appearance The Flame wears a customized fire proof suit, daubed in red patterning and given extra protection with a layer of kevlar - presumably salvaged from a military body armour set. He is known to wear heavy boots and fireproof gloves and to cover his face in a cloth mask that wraps around the top half of his head, only exposing the eyes. He is not known to carry any weapons. Affiliations: The Flame does not have any known affiliations with other groups or factions and appears to be operating as a lone vigilante. He has made several significant enemies however; notably the Metropolitan police force and the Gang of Gregory. Though never directly attacking civilian or police facilties and nominally seeming to wish to assist them, the London Police services consider him a vigilante at best and a murderous arsonist at worst with a general warrant to arrest him on sight. The Gang of Gregory has suffered the brunt of the Flame's attacks, which appear to be motivated by a sense of injustice and vengeance. Though targeted broadly at the Gregories, there does not appear to be any particular member of the gang to have earned his ire aside from the general spectre of its shadowy leadership. The Flame's brutal attacks against Gregory members and their facilities have caused them significant setbacks but only locally to the area known as Southgates. Overall, his motives are unclear, but appear to be working towards a sense of restoring justice by eradicating a known criminal element. As such he is not deemed a direct threat to the safety of the general public. Enemies of note: The Gang of Gregory, particularly those members located within the Southgates London region, have come to despise and fear the Flame. Though his activities - despite their brutality - have done little to hit them economically for the most part, the show of defiance has been taken as a challenge to the authority and rule of fear that the gang formerly enjoyed in the area. As such retaliatory attacks from the Gang of Gregory against those they perceive to be allies of the Flame have grown in number and become increasingly brutal. As there does not appear to be any known family or friends attached to the Flame, the Gang of Gregory's 'investigations' have often targeted individuals on the flimsiest of circumstantial 'evidence' resulting in a wave of terror attacks and intimidation across the area that the local police are struggling to contain. Worse, the Gang's leadership appear to have been willing to hire mercenaries and bounty hunters to conduct their own search and destroy missions. These in themselves have caused a significant increase in armed incidents. Threat Level The Flame has exhibited a capacity for causing immense localised damage and has been rated a Ceta level threat. As he has only exhibited basic levels of military training and resources outside of his abilities, and given that he has shown no known defensive capability beyond a normal human, he has not warranted a higher concern among STOCKADE members. History The Flame first appeared as a rumour in April 2056, following the deaths of three Gregory members in Croydon Cemetry as their car was engulfed in flames. Rumours continued to spread as further attacks against gang targets and petty criminal elements occurred throughout May of that year until the attack on a warehouse in the Southgates industrial district. The first known survivor of an attack explained that he was permitted to go free in order to pass on a threat to the Gang leadership.